Kahanson81
New member
We have a dove nest in one of our front entryway pillars that has been there for about 6 years. The last two years have been super active through the spring and early summer with constant nesting...as soon as one pair of babies leave the nest, it isnt more than 3 or 4 days before we see adults back in the nest with the next round (I'm assuming a different male/female pair?).
A few weeks ago, our first pair of the season began nesting and we saw the babies just peeking their heads above the rim a couple days ago. Today I got home in the afternoon and found both babies had been killed and their bodies had been left on the driveway, both heads gone, and the bodies slightly attacked too. We live around a lot of mature trees and close to a creek, so I'm assuming it was probably a smaller bird of prey that I've seen around before. I am so heartbroken, thinking that those two babies were just easy prey for a bigger bird, and weren't even used as food (which would be slightly easier to digest). This actually happened once last year and my husband and I just became dill agent on using our hose to discourage he bigger birds from hanging around our property. It didn't happen again after that so I thought we were okay.
I'm going to try attach a picture of where the nest is, but I'm mainly wondering if there's any way to make the nest safer for the doves? Or should I disassemble it to discourage further birds from nesting and having their babies killed now that this big bird knows if the spot?
Also, I wasn't sure if I should move the babies bodies? I think one of the parents was on a power line near the house this afternoon and was cooing there for about an hour and then was gone. After I didn't see any adults anymore, I disposed of he bodies but a pair of doves appeared on my fence close to the nest this evening. Should I have left the bodies for longer for them to mourn? It's so sad.
Thanks for any advice. I feel terrible that it happened last year and we didn't do anything to make the nest more secure (if that's possible at all).
A few weeks ago, our first pair of the season began nesting and we saw the babies just peeking their heads above the rim a couple days ago. Today I got home in the afternoon and found both babies had been killed and their bodies had been left on the driveway, both heads gone, and the bodies slightly attacked too. We live around a lot of mature trees and close to a creek, so I'm assuming it was probably a smaller bird of prey that I've seen around before. I am so heartbroken, thinking that those two babies were just easy prey for a bigger bird, and weren't even used as food (which would be slightly easier to digest). This actually happened once last year and my husband and I just became dill agent on using our hose to discourage he bigger birds from hanging around our property. It didn't happen again after that so I thought we were okay.
I'm going to try attach a picture of where the nest is, but I'm mainly wondering if there's any way to make the nest safer for the doves? Or should I disassemble it to discourage further birds from nesting and having their babies killed now that this big bird knows if the spot?
Also, I wasn't sure if I should move the babies bodies? I think one of the parents was on a power line near the house this afternoon and was cooing there for about an hour and then was gone. After I didn't see any adults anymore, I disposed of he bodies but a pair of doves appeared on my fence close to the nest this evening. Should I have left the bodies for longer for them to mourn? It's so sad.
Thanks for any advice. I feel terrible that it happened last year and we didn't do anything to make the nest more secure (if that's possible at all).
